entrancelogs | Another year older, a little bit stronger

Entry tags:

Another year older, a little bit stronger

Who: Frisk, Chara, and everyone who's up for a birthday party
Where: A second-floor tearoom
When: 5/25
Rating: PG, probably
Summary: Frisk turns 13 years old and gets to have an actual celebration! And I guess Chara gets to share their birthday too. Also, a goat shows up and EVERYONE SCREAMS.
The Story:

May 25th. Chara's had time to prepare for it. Everyone Sans managed to recruit into throwing a party has had time to prepare for it. And now it's here!

In their own way, they've... they've tried. When they first arrived here, they tore the head off a stuffed animal. More recently, they smashed a flowerpot. The former's been stitched together again, the latter assembled with glue and patience, and both sit on the windowsill of room 12, unannounced and devoid of fanfare, but present. In one of Chara's hands, a little gift, done up in blatantly Christmas-themed wrapping paper but nonetheless wrapped with painstaking neatness.

In the other, Frisk's hand. They've got places to be! Whether they like it or not, they're getting dragged out of their room and into the arms of everyone who loves them. Chara hauls them along to the door to one of the tearooms, then stops long enough to flash a bright smile.

"Okay, on three. Try to act surprised. One, two..."

They open the door and shove Frisk inside. Let them bask in a room full of balloons and streamers and treats and happy smiling faces, or... or whatever sort of ramshackle affair Alphys and Papyrus have put together.

"Three. Happy birthday, nerd."

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[Souji finds it kind of adorable that Frisk is so surprised by this whole thing, but it's nice, too. Frisk, he's found, can typically be counted on for genuine emotional displays.

He brought the food, but he also brought a small gift: origami flowers, albeit in brighter colors. He hands it over once Frisk has adequately circulated around their friends, especially the ones from their own world (there are a lot of them now, and it makes him nostalgic for when there were a lot of people from his world here).]

Happy birthday.

[Flowers remind them of a lot of thing - of the golden bed they landed on, of Chara's grave, of Asriel, of Asgore and Toriel and the warm smell of pollen drifting in through an open window. So it takes them a moment to realize the bouquet Souji is holding isn't one of real flowers, but of paper ones, delicately arranged in a complicated geometry of folds they don't understand but find just as entrancing.]

Thank you.

[And they mean it; this entire thing took them completely off guard, and they're touched by the lengths everyone went to throw a celebration for them.]

Did you know about this?

[Souji nods, smiling a bit.]

Sans mentioned it on the network earlier this month. I offered to bring the food.

[It wasn't strictly necessary, considering the whole magical mansion thing, but he felt like it would be nicer than relying on the limited selection the tea rooms offer.]

Did he?

[The lazy skeleton isn't quite so lazy, they think. Whether it was motivated by guilt from what happened or genuinely wanting to give them a special day, either one is oddly touching. He really does care a whole lot, doesn't he?

They giggle a little, ducking their head.]

That's...probably for the best. Papyrus's skill doesn't, um, always match his enthusiasm.

I know how that is.

[Several of Souji's friends at home love to cook, but seem to have a talent for making people sick with what they serve. At absolute best, their cooking has no taste whatsoever. "Boneless" was the best on of his friends could come up with to describe it.]

I'm glad to help, though. It's kind of a tradition for the diner to cater.

[The diner has a lot of traditions, apparently.]

[They're liking the sound of Souji's arrangement the more they hear about it. Maybe they should be an aspiring cook. Only, if they mentioned that to anyone, they'd end up with daily cooking lessons with Undyne and Papyrus, which tend to be more...destructive than they prefer.]

That was really nice of you! The monsters are...they're great but, um, I don't think any of them really know how to cook...?

[Sans might, though they're not sure. Most of him is a mystery. The only person they really know who's a good cook is Toriel, and she's never showed up here. ~~Yet.~~]

What about you? Have you tried before?

[Souji has never been successful at teaching anyone but his little cousin to cook--and she already had some idea of what to do--but that has more to do with the people he was trying to teach than with him.]

Nothing outside of instant stuff, like noodles. And, um, spaghetti once. But that was Undyne teaching me.

[They laugh, a little nervously, rubbing at the back of their neck.]

Weeeee kind of ended up burning her house down.

...Did you get to eat the spaghetti?

[Souji, why would that be your primary concern here?]

Not exactly. It was, um, still in the house when it went up.

[They add, a little apologetically:]

Undyne taught Papyrus how to cook too. So...

That sounds like an unfortunate cycle...

[Frisk, please do not learn to cook from either of them.]

Well, at least in Wonderland, you don't usually have to worry about cooking.

[THEY TRIED NOT TO LEARN. They really really did!]

Yeah, but I think they're likely to try anyway. It's kind of a hobby of theirs.

...Luckily, they can't burn the Mansion down.

.......And there are a lot of fire extinguishers in the kitchen downstairs.

I'll make sure they don't!

[They hasten to add, realizing that they haven't exactly made a compelling argument as to why Undyne and Papyrus are allowed to cook.]

Besides, Undyne's stove couldn't turn off. Like, um, literally. I tried. So that shouldn't be a problem here!

I hope so.

[Souji smiles a little and doesn't point out that Wonderland likes to screw with them even on good days.]

Maybe the practice will help them get better at it.

Maybe you could teach them? You're a good cook!

[Then again, that's kind of a lot of responsibility to lob at someone all at once...]

[Souji wonders if it will go as badly as everyone at the inn trying to teach Yukiko...]

I could try. I don't think I've met either of them yet, though.

I could introduce you if you want! They're, um, kind of loud, though.

[They indicate the two rather tall monsters with a tilt of their chin. A tall skeleton and an equally tall fish lady, both contributing rather enthusiastically to the noise level of the room.]

[Souji looks over and takes them in.]

I have some pretty loud friends, too. I should be okay.

They're both Royal Guards. Or, well...Undyne is, and Papyrus is in training. So, I guess neither of them really learned how to cook, exactly.

Yeah, it seems like that would take up most of their time. You can only do so much.

[Unless you're Souji and you have half a dozen part time jobs and go to school and fight shadows and save peoples' asses and read books about being MANLY and also spend time petting the cat.]

At least they do it with passion!

[Frisk is certain to put a very particular emphasis on that. "Passion." Great, fiery, all-encompassing passion.]

Even if it means...um, gets things burned down. But I guess this happened to them a lot.

[If what Undyne said was any indication, that is.]

You've got to admire that they keep trying.

[At least his friends had never burned anything down.]

I had friends who would try to cook. It actually made me sick, and I can eat just about anything.

[Correction, Souji: you are willing to eat just about anything. Those are not the same thing.]

Their skill didn't quite, um, match their enthusiasm either?

[Papyrus certainly brought a plethora of spaghetti. One of the tables is practically laden with it.]

I mean...you could try Papyrus's cooking. I'm sure he brought plenty.

[But it also might be...lethal, potentially.]

It doesn't sound like that would be a good idea.

[Frisk hasn't exactly been selling Papyrus's culinary skill.]

I should get to know the others from your world better. I've only really talked to you and Chara.

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